I finally saw a frequency on the D1100 and it pretty much confirms my big complaint about them, the recessed mids.

You did not research this before you bought them?

D1100 was so new when I got them there wasn't any reviews around except for one here on head-fi and some random comments here and there. I didn't expect any really superb mids but wasn't expecting it to be THAT bad. XB500 has so much better mids. Mids aren't my only gripe about them though.

yep. I think I was one of the first to review them. as I think I said in that review (comparing the D2000s, D5000s, and D1100s), they are pretty bad without extensive EQ work. the way the lows bleed into the mids are a travesty. the only way I could make them work was by either using the "Bass Reducer" EQ function on my iDevices (which brought the bass down to a reasonable but still heavy level...which is crazy considering how powerful the "bass reducer" EQ setting is on iDevices. it drops bass off the charts for most cans...but for the D1100, there was *still* bass to spare.)

I ultimately returned them because I didn't want to feel bound to the capabilities of an EQ in the future. I don't think I recommended them then without EQ, nor would I recommend them now without EQ. But I maintain that for those willing/able to EQ, they'll sound better than a fair amount of cans in the price range. Now, however, I'm much more inclined to recommend something else. the TMA-1's or M50's, for example.

The A100's sounded darn near just as wretched. Same problem with having too much bass, though they tamed it a good bit (no need for the "Bass Reducer" EQ setting), but I still dropped it a db or 2 on my computer when listening. the bass still bled into the mids, which sounded a mess anyway. ugh.

I finally saw a frequency on the D1100 and it pretty much confirms my big complaint about them, the recessed mids.

You did not research this before you bought them?

D1100 was so new when I got them there wasn't any reviews around except for one here on head-fi and some random comments here and there. I didn't expect any really superb mids but wasn't expecting it to be THAT bad. XB500 has so much better mids. Mids aren't my only gripe about them though.

yep. I think I was one of the first to review them. as I think I said in that review (comparing the D2000s, D5000s, and D1100s), they are pretty bad without extensive EQ work. the way the lows bleed into the mids are a travesty. the only way I could make them work was by either using the "Bass Reducer" EQ function on my iDevices (which brought the bass down to a reasonable but still heavy level...which is crazy considering how powerful the "bass reducer" EQ setting is on iDevices. it drops bass off the charts for most cans...but for the D1100, there was *still* bass to spare.)

I ultimately returned them because I didn't want to feel bound to the capabilities of an EQ in the future. I don't think I recommended them then without EQ, nor would I recommend them now without EQ. But I maintain that for those willing/able to EQ, they'll sound better than a fair amount of cans in the price range. Now, however, I'm much more inclined to recommend something else. the TMA-1's or M50's, for example.

The A100's sounded darn near just as wretched. Same problem with having too much bass, though they tamed it a good bit (no need for the "Bass Reducer" EQ setting), but I still dropped it a db or 2 on my computer when listening. the bass still bled into the mids, which sounded a mess anyway. ugh.

Yea well versus my personal taste D1100 was so far the 2nd most unbalanced headphone after DT770 Pro. The upper punchy bass was a bit too strong compared to the other frequencies obviously but if mids had been less recessed it had been alright but I was missing the deep bass and overall it was a bit too cold & dry sounding for me with far too recessed mids and upper-highs were tiny bit on the thin/edgy/metallic side (not too bright though, difficult to explain). Both mids and highs lacked some refinement/detail IMO for the pricetag. It did have very good soundstage and instrument seperation though, for me almost too good, I don't like laid-back sound with extremely separated instruments which was my opinion about D1100 as I prefer a more lush/warm presentation, too much separation and it's a bit too analytical/boring/"cold" for me to fully enjoy the music. I did drastic EQing and could get it sound a lot better but couldn't still fully enjoy it. With a great tube amp it might get closer but yea those are expensier than the headphone itself.

beats monster is alright but for the price , you can get m50 and shure stuff . to me . an consumer who do their research can easily avoid them. it's the people who likely to be hyped fall into beats hype are the ones we need to warn.

I finally saw a frequency on the D1100 and it pretty much confirms my big complaint about them, the recessed mids.

You did not research this before you bought them?

D1100 was so new when I got them there wasn't any reviews around except for one here on head-fi and some random comments here and there. I didn't expect any really superb mids but wasn't expecting it to be THAT bad. XB500 has so much better mids. Mids aren't my only gripe about them though.

yep. I think I was one of the first to review them. as I think I said in that review (comparing the D2000s, D5000s, and D1100s), they are pretty bad without extensive EQ work. the way the lows bleed into the mids are a travesty. the only way I could make them work was by either using the "Bass Reducer" EQ function on my iDevices (which brought the bass down to a reasonable but still heavy level...which is crazy considering how powerful the "bass reducer" EQ setting is on iDevices. it drops bass off the charts for most cans...but for the D1100, there was *still* bass to spare.)

I ultimately returned them because I didn't want to feel bound to the capabilities of an EQ in the future. I don't think I recommended them then without EQ, nor would I recommend them now without EQ. But I maintain that for those willing/able to EQ, they'll sound better than a fair amount of cans in the price range. Now, however, I'm much more inclined to recommend something else. the TMA-1's or M50's, for example.

The A100's sounded darn near just as wretched. Same problem with having too much bass, though they tamed it a good bit (no need for the "Bass Reducer" EQ setting), but I still dropped it a db or 2 on my computer when listening. the bass still bled into the mids, which sounded a mess anyway. ugh.